2000
#386
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 74,531
First available Census row
Per 100,000 27.63
Uncommon Last name
Quinn
An Irish surname derived from the Gaelic word "conn," meaning chief, leader, or intelligence.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 86,292 Americans carry the last name Quinn. That puts it at #429 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 25.18 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,972 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Quinn surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Quinn with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
86K
1 in 3,972
Census rank
#429
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
25.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
75K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 75,251 bearers of the surname Quinn in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 25.18 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 429th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Quinn, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.2%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Quinn
The surname Quinn has its origins in Ireland and is an Anglicized version of the Old Gaelic name O'Cuinn, meaning "descendant of Conn". Conn was a legendary ancient king of Ireland who ruled in the 2nd century AD. The name is derived from the Old Irish word "cond" meaning "chief" or "leader".
The Quinn surname first appeared in historical records in the 12th century, with early spellings including O'Cuin, O'Cuinn, and O'Quin. It was particularly prevalent in the counties of Tyrone, Derry, and Fermanagh in Ulster, where the O'Quinns were a powerful clan.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is in the Annals of Ulster, which mention a man named Giolla Crist O'Cuinn in 1181. The name also appears in the Annals of the Four Masters, a 17th-century chronicle of medieval Irish history.
The surname Quinn is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name is listed as "Quine" in this record.
Notable historical figures with the surname Quinn include:
1. Ede Quinn (c. 1532 - 1624), an Irish military leader who fought against English forces during the Nine Years' War.
2. Walter Quinn (1701 - 1786), an Irish-born Catholic priest who emigrated to the American colonies and was a prominent educator in Philadelphia.
3. James Quinn (1819 - 1881), an Irish-American Union Army officer who served in the American Civil War and received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Antietam.
4. John Quinn (1870 - 1924), an American lawyer and art collector who amassed one of the largest collections of modern art in the United States.
5. Anthony Quinn (1915 - 2001), a Mexican-American actor of Irish descent who won two Academy Awards and starred in films like "Viva Zapata!" and "Zorba the Greek".
The name Quinn has also been associated with various place names in Ireland, such as Quinnsborough, Quinntown, and Quinnville, which were likely derived from prominent local families with the surname.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Quinn
Among Census respondents with the surname Quinn, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.2%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Quinn bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Quinn surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.6% · 62,890
- Black or African American8.2% · 6,173
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 2,764
- Two or more races3.3% · 2,515
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 620
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 289
Timeline
Historical Census data for Quinn
Quinn appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#422
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 76,986
+2,455 bearers (+3.3%)
Per 100,000 26.10
Rank movement Down 36 places
2020
#429
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 75,251
-1,735 bearers (-2.3%)
Per 100,000 25.18
Rank movement Down 7 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #386 | 74,531 | 27.63 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #422 | 76,986 | 26.10 | +2,455 bearers (+3.3%) | Down 36 places |
| 2020 | #429 | 75,251 | 25.18 | -1,735 bearers (-2.3%) | Down 7 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Quinn surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #422 | #429 | -1.7% |
| Count | 76,986 | 75,251 | -2.3% |
| Per 100K | 26.10 | 25.18 | -3.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Quinn bearers went from 76,986 to 75,251 (-2.3% change). The surname moved down 7 positions in the national ranking, going from #422 to #429.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Quinn
FAQ
Quinn surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Quinn?
Name Census estimates that about 86,292 living Americans carry the surname Quinn. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,972 residents.
How common is Quinn?
Quinn ranks #429 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 25.18 per 100,000 residents, which is about 25 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 75,251 people with the surname Quinn. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (86,292), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 25.18 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 25.18 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 25 of them to have the surname Quinn.
Has Quinn become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Quinn went from 76,986 recorded bearers to 75,251. That is a decrease of 1,735 (-2.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #422 to #429.
What does the Census say about the background of Quinn?
Among Census respondents with the surname Quinn, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.2%) and Hispanic (3.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Quinn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.6% (62,890 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Quinn appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (83.6%), Black (8.2%), Hispanic (3.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Quinn (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Quinn mean?
An Irish surname derived from the Gaelic word "conn," meaning chief, leader, or intelligence. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Quinn (25.18 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Quinn?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Quinn, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.